Chicago.
It was nine o'clock in the evening, Central Time. After watching the latest showing of 'Rain Man', renowned film critic Roger Ebert and his friend Gene Siskel left the theatre together. Since 1975, Ebert and Gene Siskel had co-hosted the film review talk show 'Siskel & Ebert' on a local Chicago TV station.
Recalling the undercurrents in the industry recently, Roger Ebert wore a wry smile and asked his friend, "Gene, what are you going to do?"
Gene Siskel's expression was also somewhat hesitant.
A few days ago, some people had secretly tried to ambush 'Dead Poets Society', but the attitude of this force was not too firm, and the quality of 'Dead Poets Society' itself was beyond doubt. Coupled with Daenerys Entertainment's aggressive public relations, after a week of sneak previews, 'Dead Poets Society' still accumulated a very strong reputation.
But this time, CAA president Michael Ovitz personally called and immediately asked if they were interested in doing an exclusive interview with Robert Redford on their TV show, with the topic being the Sundance Film Festival in January next year.
If a big star like Robert Redford could appear on 'Siskel & Ebert', the two would naturally be more than happy.
Then, Ovitz brought up 'Rain Man'.
Everyone was smart.
Although Michael Ovitz didn't explicitly state certain things on the phone, and it was unlikely he would openly say something like, "I hope you guys give 'Rain Man' a bad review" to give anyone leverage, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel understood what he meant.
However, after watching the film, both realized that 'Rain Man' was definitely a rare and excellent film, far from as bad as some media had been portraying it recently.
Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel now felt somewhat caught between a rock and a hard place.
Although Michael Ovitz only promised benefits on the phone, they didn't believe that if they ignored his wishes, the two would simply lose an opportunity to interview Redford.
With CAA accumulating more and more A-list superstars in recent years, this talent agency's influence in Hollywood had even surpassed any of the Big Seven.
Film critics ultimately rely on movies to survive, and preferably first-hand movie information.
If the two were to give 'Rain Man' a positive review based on facts, they would likely lose many opportunities to attend early screenings of films starring CAA's artists for a period of time.
However, if they disregarded the facts and gave 'Rain Man' a negative review, once the overall critical reception of the film leaned positive, their credibility would be damaged. Film critics rely on their reputation to make a living, and they also face no shortage of competitors. Such a clear distortion of truth would certainly invite attacks from rivals.
The two discussed as they walked, and finally found a coffee shop. After careful consideration, Roger Ebert finally decided to postpone the publication of his 'Rain Man' review. If the film's reputation became overwhelmingly positive, he couldn't go against the tide. If the response was mediocre, although this was unlikely, he could then do a 'favour'.
Many times, human behaviour patterns always show astonishing similarities.
When Roger Ebert decided to postpone the publication of his 'Rain Man' review, many media outlets across North America, which had been approached by CAA, cleverly came up with the same idea.
So, early on Saturday morning, many mainstream newspapers in North America were conspicuously silent about 'Rain Man'.
Malibu.
Simon quickly saw the first-day box office data for 'Rain Man' after waking up early.
$2.1 million dollars.
Although it was a preliminary estimate, the detailed figures should not differ much.
However, this figure was less than half of 'Scream's opening day during Halloween. 'Scream's release slot was relatively quiet, but it still earned $4.5 million on its opening day, while 'Rain Man' only earned $2.1 million on its opening day.
Although the film had faced a lot of controversy in the early stages, Daenerys Entertainment had also invested enough marketing resources.
Simon had previously predicted that 'Rain Man's opening day box office should be at least around $2.5 million, which would ensure the film's first-week box office was no less than $10 million. In this era, if a film's first-week box office was below $10 million, its starting point was too low, and its subsequent box office could not achieve much.
Now, with an opening day box office of $2.1 million, 'Rain Man's first week would likely only be around $8 million.
With an $8 million opening, even if Simon had more confidence in 'Rain Man', he didn't believe the film could achieve over $170 million at the North American box office as it did in the original timeline.
Did it ultimately fail?
After breakfast, he routinely went to the company. Since most of his weekdays were spent on 'Batman', Simon wanted to use the weekend to handle as many company affairs as possible.
Sitting in the office, Burbank quickly sent over the media feedback report for 'Rain Man' and the news that many mainstream media outlets had collectively 'gone silent' today. Simon dismissed his female secretary, Susan Landis, who had been increasingly assiduously hovering around him these days, and then opened the media feedback report.
When Jennifer pushed the door open, Simon had just finished reading the report.
Although newspapers like 'Variety' and 'The Hollywood Reporter' had not published reviews immediately, in North America, with over two thousand newspapers, news of 'Rain Man' naturally couldn't be completely suppressed.
Overall, 'Rain Man's reviews were much higher than those for the earlier 'Dead Poets Society'. The 'Los Angeles Times', which had a good relationship with Daenerys Entertainment, praised the film as 'a deeply moving and heartwarming masterpiece'.
Putting down the document, Simon noticed Jennifer carefully placing a stack of scripts in front of him. He relaxed his expression and teased, "Why so careful? Worried I'll suddenly turn into a beast and eat you?"
Jennifer pushed the stack of scripts towards Simon, then leaned against the opposite side of the desk, looking at Simon intently, and said, "I went to the cinema to see 'Rain Man' last night. The audience around me really liked it."
Simon didn't pick up Jennifer's topic. Noticing her fair hand still resting on the scripts, he reached out, wanting to place his hand on hers, but Jennifer instinctively pulled away, her face slightly flushed as she looked at his empty hand, saying, "This isn't good".
Simon turned his palm upwards, smiling, and said, "I'm about to lose a lot of money. Quickly comfort me".
"It shouldn't be that much", Jennifer said, hesitating for a moment, but still reached out and patted Simon's large hand with her small one. She had expected Simon to grab her hand and playfully tease her, but the man didn't do so. She then casually withdrew her hand and looked at the stack of scripts she had just brought, saying, "You seemed to have rejected the 'Rocket Expert' project a long time ago, and there are several other scripts here that you've eliminated. Why do you want these projects again now?"
Simon withdrew his hand and said, "To give away".
Jennifer was puzzled: "Give away? To whom?"
"To whoever wants them", Simon didn't hide too much, saying, "Perhaps I'm a bit paranoid, but we'll know if we try".
Jennifer understood and said, "You mean, industrial espionage?"
Simon nodded and said, "All right, don't concern yourself with these matters. Just focus on your work".
Jennifer, hearing Simon say this, knew he just didn't want her to get involved in the dark side of business and didn't distrust her. She pursed her lips and said, "I can help you".
"Of course", Simon said confidently, "but some things don't require you to do them. Now, go back to your office obediently".
This coaxing tone, like talking to a little girl, made Jennifer feel a little sweet, yet also a little displeased. As she obediently turned to walk out, she couldn't help but say, "I'm not a little girl".
Simon waited for Jennifer to leave, then picked up the stack of scripts. After sorting through them, he selected two.
One was 'The Rocketeer', which Simon had planned to acquire as 'sand' last year, and the other was 'Fire Birds', a military-themed film imitating 'Top Gun'.
As he recalled, both of these films were high-budget failures.
The original 'The Rocketeer' was produced by Disney, burning through over $60 million in production and marketing costs, but its North American box office was only a little over $40 million. While not an absolute failure, for Disney, a project that consumed significant funds and a prime release slot yet failed to meet box office expectations was a major blow.
The other film, 'Fire Birds', told the story of an Apache helicopter squadron. Simon only remembered it because it aimed to continue the glory of 'Top Gun'. Although he couldn't recall the detailed budget and box office figures, he clearly remembered the project's box office failure.
If someone was truly employing industrial espionage, giving away these two projects, if both failed, could at least lead to the replacement of several high-level executives at a major film company.
Simon meticulously added some misleading annotations to the two scripts. Half an hour later, Amy knocked and entered. Simon casually put the two scripts away in the filing cabinet by his feet, then left the company headquarters with Amy.
After this period of operation, Daenerys Entertainment had successfully acquired the hillside plot in Malibu. Simon and Amy had arranged to personally inspect it today.
The two arrived at the parking lot. Amy didn't drive, but instead got into Simon's Land Rover.
Once the car started, they inevitably chatted a bit about 'Rain Man'. Amy then brought up another matter: "Yesterday was the final deadline for the contract, and Orion hasn't paid us the revenue share for 'Pulp Fiction'".
For tax avoidance and other considerations, Simon's collaboration with Orion on 'Pulp Fiction' went entirely through Daenerys Entertainment's corporate channels, not as a personal collaboration.
According to the original contract, Orion was required to settle Daenerys Entertainment's due share within one month of 'Pulp Fiction' closing its theatrical run. 'Pulp Fiction' closed on November 17th, and yesterday was December 16th, also the last workday. Under normal circumstances, Orion should have paid 10% of the box office revenue to Daenerys Entertainment before that day.
Starting with 'Run Lola Run', followed by 'Final Destination', 'When Harry Met Sally', and several other projects, apparently for the sake of good future cooperation, none of the film companies had yet delayed payment of the revenue share due to Daenerys Entertainment.
Simon was well aware of Hollywood film companies' habitual delay in paying independent producers' shares, but he hadn't expected his own company to suddenly face such a situation.
However, he wasn't surprised either.
Including 'Heartbreak Kid', which opened yesterday along with 'Rain Man', Orion released a total of 17 films this year.
According to the data seen this morning, 'Heartbreak Kid's opening day box office was only $1.2 million, clearly another failure. Before this, besides 'Pulp Fiction', the film with the best box office among the others was Kevin Costner's baseball star biopic 'Bull Durham', with a North American box office of $50.88 million.
Moreover, only 5 films among all projects had a North American box office exceeding $20 million.
Based on the rapidly increasing film production costs in recent years, with a North American box office of $20 million, Orion could only ensure recovery of all costs through subsequent full-channel operations. Below $20 million, even if it could break even, it would require a considerably long operating period, which essentially amounted to a loss.
In aggregate, out of Orion's 17 films this year, only 5 could be guaranteed to break even, and the other 12 films were basically operating at a loss in the short term.
After fulfilling the 'Pulp Fiction' contract, Daenerys Entertainment's chances of future cooperation with Orion were slim. With most projects losing money throughout the year, Orion could only rely on delaying payments to maintain operations at this point.
Thinking this, Simon asked Amy, "Did Mike Medavoy call you?"
Amy nodded and said, "He said Orion doesn't have the money right now and hopes we can delay it for a month".
Simon chuckled. Since they had started delaying, Daenerys Entertainment probably wouldn't get it a month later: "Are the other projects' shares all right?"
"No, Fox has already settled the box office share for 'Basic Instinct', totalling $32.29 million, and the major TV networks will basically settle their accounts before the end of the month".
Simon thought for a moment and said, "You continue to keep an eye on it. It's fine for Orion to delay for a few months; everyone understands their situation. But if they maliciously delay indefinitely, we'll file a lawsuit".
As they spoke, the car quickly arrived at the hillside where Daenerys Entertainment's film studio would be built.
Amidst the busyness, the two weekend days flew by.
'Rain Man' had an opening day of $2.1 million, with an estimated first-week box office of only $8 million. Even at a 20% weekly decline, the film's North American box office might only be a little over $30 million. Compared to a total investment of $40 million, Daenerys Entertainment's loss seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
However, to everyone's surprise, after the $2.1 million opening day, 'Rain Man's daily box office continued to show an upward trend against the market for the next two days. On Sunday, which should have seen a decline relative to Saturday's box office, there was even an inverse increase.
When the first weekend box office figures were released, the media was surprised to find that in the three days of the opening weekend, 'Rain Man's box office had already reached $7.28 million, close to the generally predicted seven-day first-week box office.